Brentford verdict

[wulfie88]

 

[sillytuna]

Yesterday is the kind of result that can happen. Wolves are a decent mid table team, but if we have an off day then defeat can be expected. Gary O’Neil hasn’t got the numbers to make too many changes, and is limited on rotation. To be 10th is a very good achievement, and if we finish the season in 10th place that will be very good indeed.

Spot on. The team had a bad day yesterday and we gifted two goals. Also some bad luck with cunha and a couple of other chances. It happens.

I didn't bother with this thread after the game because I knew it'd all be about how we didn't sign a 3rd striker and let two go when to be honest the issue was that we simply didn't turn up from the first minute.

Sa is a keeper who does the odd howler, as do all keepers. Yesterday's second was inexcusable as he'd done it all game but hey ho. Not seen the first other than in the ground but that looked like noddy defending.

Also, the ref - Christ all mighty, if a feather touched a player it was a foul. As for the time wasting he allowed... We've had some non petty refs recently but he was appalling.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Having now heard GON's appraisal of the match, I would 100% agree with him. If we were going to lose to Brentford that's exactly how it would look. It reminded me of a couple of seasons ago actually when, again, they beat us 2-0.

It was, hopefully, just an 'off day' but the biggest worry is the injury to Cunha. Once again, it showed how important he is to the team.

He is possibly a victim of the 'fatigue' that some of us were worried about when we failed to land another striker in the window. I think he's started every single PL game this season and has borne the brunt the workload in the last month or so whilst Hwang has been away and Neto has been easing back into playing 90 minutes. It looked like a hamstring to me from the stands but, fingers crossed it's just a 'tweak' and nothing more. I will do my best to find out an update in the next couple of days.

Aside from the majority of the players having an off day, I think GON got a couple of his subs wrong. To me, Fraser was the obvious candidate to come on when Cunha went off and I was also perplexed that he took Gomes off. Hard to be too critical however on the back of one poor performance.

We knew Hwang would be away for several weeks so it does look crazy that we let Sasa go on loan when he most likely would have played in all/most of those games. I know Wolves tried for a no 9 but I expect the Club knowing the financial situation it would be unlikely we could get anyone decent in during the window. Even more bonkers to let Sasa go. Imagine being in a position to have a kid as your main striker; as if Wolves would do such a thing?

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Spot on. The team had a bad day yesterday and we gifted two goals. Also some bad luck with cunha and a couple of other chances. It happens.

I didn't bother with this thread after the game because I knew it'd all be about how we didn't sign a 3rd striker and let two go when to be honest the issue was that we simply didn't turn up from the first minute.

Sa is a keeper who does the odd howler, as do all keepers. Yesterday's second was inexcusable as he'd done it all game but hey ho. Not seen the first other than in the ground but that looked like noddy defending.

Also, the ref - Christ all mighty, if a feather touched a player it was a foul. As for the time wasting he allowed... We've had some non petty refs recently but he was appalling.

I expect it's been said above but I haven't read through all the thread but IIRC 4 games ago we were the only Prem Club not to have conceded from a corner; a pretty good stat tbh. Now McTominay, Silva and Norgaard have all scored unmarked headers from corners against us.

 

[JadeWolf]

I expect it's been said above but I haven't read through all the thread but IIRC 4 games ago we were the only Prem Club not to have conceded from a corner; a pretty good stat tbh. Now McTominay, Silva and Norgaard have all scored unmarked headers from corners against us.

Depends how you look at it. 3 goals against from corners in 3 games is really worrying. 3 goals against from corners in 24 sounds like a decent record.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Depends how you look at it. 3 goals against from corners in 3 games is really worrying. 3 goals against from corners in 24 sounds like a decent record.

To be honest we have a bad habit of leaving opponents unmarked with free headers in our box. Until recently we were lucky enough to get away with it. More recently we haven't.

 

[Paris Wolf]

Bad day at the office and we’ll bounce back. Does make the decision to let Sasa go on loan even more stupid though.

Apologies if this has been said but I haven't gone through all nine pages yet. Sasa's partner gave birth this weekend so he wouldn't have played anyway. Eintracht played at the same time as us and he wasn't in their squad.

 

[Wolf316]

Apologies if this has been said but I haven't gone through all nine pages yet. Sasa's partner gave birth this weekend so he wouldn't have played anyway. Eintracht played at the same time as us and he wasn't in their squad.

Congrats to him and his wife.

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

Apologies if this has been said but I haven't gone through all nine pages yet. Sasa's partner gave birth this weekend so he wouldn't have played anyway. Eintracht played at the same time as us and he wasn't in their squad.

Yeah but if he’d have stayed in wolves we would’ve arranged a midweek C section at New Cross to ensure his availability

 

[thommo1984]

Why are people blaming Sa for the second goal? It was Dawson who overhit a very simple pass to Doyle, Sa had nothing to do with it.

(He was awful on Saturday but that’s beside the point)

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

Nothing to get too worried about. We weren't at our best but dominated most of the game. The fine margins went against us. If Dawson is a couple of inches further back we equalise and it's a totally different game, same with Neto's header. It was a shame Hwang wasn't ready to be on the bench, he would have made a massive difference when Cunha went off as they were able to double and triple team Neto.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Would you agree that Jeff is responsible for Wolves longest run in top flight football iin over 45 years?

He is, but that doesn't make him immune to criticism and it is hardly a glowing endorsement anyway when you're putting him on a pedestal because his incompetence is, to be fair to Jeff, a microcosm of the stupidity we saw from a vanity project turned sour and the club handed off to whichever son decided they'd be nice to him for long enough to get the crown jewels. And don't get me started on Moxey.....

I don't necessarily agree that it's Jeff's fault every defeat, likewise the contrary entrenched view shouldn't sit well with any supporter either, because by the same token if we get relegated this attitude of never hoping for nor expecting better from a position of strength becomes 'welcome to modern football' and 'well, we are back in our rightful place'

 

[Ned]

Why are people blaming Sa for the second goal? It was Dawson who overhit a very simple pass to Doyle, Sa had nothing to do with it.

(He was awful on Saturday but that’s beside the point)

No idea, I thought this myself. I think a few Twitter live reports said it was a pass from Sa initially so wonder whether it’s come from that.

 

[Plovdiv Wolf]

Bad play. Worst seen this season.

 

[bod101]

in all honesty i doubt having sasa or any other striker player would've made much difference as i thought we were way too slow, predictable and easy to play against.

 

[martin120863]

Sa is a clown. Watch closely what opposition teams do when he has the ball ready to pass it - it's like the charge of the light brigade. We need 2 keepers in the Summer. Any decent keeper would have caught the cross for their first goal easily. Having watched the replays closely I'm sure he called for it, causing Dawson to let it go. Sa isn't imposing or athletic enough and is in my opinion the worst keeper in the Premier League. When he was given a 5 year contract recently I hope to goodness it was to maximise his value. I'm not sure my ticker can stand another 5 years of his empty headed dithering.

 

[martin120863]

To be honest we have a bad habit of leaving opponents unmarked with free headers in our box. Until recently we were lucky enough to get away with it. More recently we haven't.

The keeper needs to come and catch crosses within his six yard box. As my old boss used to say... it's not rocking horse science.

 

[martin120863]

What about Doyle bottling a challenge? Something that far too many of our players are guilty of.

He didn't bottle it, he hesitated... same outcome granted.

 

[fleck1]

The last three performances sum up where we are as a team and a squad, Utd was a mix of the worst and best of us, Chelsea was a superb away performance and Saturday was just awful and never really got going. With Hwang picking up ma niggle and Cunha going off we looked a little toothless through the middle, Fraser came on worked hard and put himself about but if we are honest right now he should be nowhere near a premier league first team right now. I was a little confused as to what GON was trying to achieve with his changes, seemed to slot Nelson right side of a three at half time to get an extra attacker on which I guess makes sense but the change to take of Nelson off at 2 down and bring Doc on with RAN moving to the left of a three made no sense. I know lack options especially with Cunha and Hwang not there but surely leaving Gomes on or adding Traore or Chirewa rather than another full back adds something more. On the plus side we are sat in 10th Chelsea are a basket case, Utd, Brighton and Newcastle are a bit up and down, West ham look to be dropping like a stone so we keep looking up. Bad day at the office but the Wolves way three points away at Spurs before Sheffield Utd beat us at home.

 

[wolfgar]

Why are people blaming Sa for the second goal? It was Dawson who overhit a very simple pass to Doyle, Sa had nothing to do with it.

(He was awful on Saturday but that’s beside the point)

Sa had had a couple of go's at gifting Brentford a goal in a very similar fashion in the first half, but got away with it. Dawson did not.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

in all honesty i doubt having sasa or any other striker player would've made much difference as i thought we were way too slow, predictable and easy to play against.

I think the rationale is we were struggling to play through their press and at times a final point might have relieved the pressure. When we tried to go a bit more direct the ball just bounced off Bellegarde so we were stuck playing one way, and therefore being predictable as a result.

I'm not sure a Sasa-style target man taking it long and laying it off would have helped, because Pinnock and Collins are much more comfortable against this style of forward and we've already seen with Sasa earlier in the season we don't really know how to play with a striker of this ilk effectively. At the same time, a more physical player than Bellegarde that also has good movement and isn't afraid to attack the box when Neto is sliding the ball across the face of the goal would probably have earned us a point on Saturday.

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

I think the rationale is we were struggling to play through their press and at times a final point might have relieved the pressure. When we tried to go a bit more direct the ball just bounced off Bellegarde so we were stuck playing one way, and therefore being predictable as a result.

I'm not sure a Sasa-style target man taking it long and laying it off would have helped, because Pinnock and Collins are much more comfortable against this style of forward and we've already seen with Sasa earlier in the season we don't really know how to play with a striker of this ilk effectively. At the same time, a more physical player than Bellegarde that also has good movement and isn't afraid to attack the box when Neto is sliding the ball across the face of the goal would probably have earned us a point on Saturday.

Basically Hwang

 

[berwickwolf]

I don't really want to get into another Lopetegui debate.

I take your comments to Wolfslair as asking for balance, and looking at the bigger picture with Jeff Shi. Which I found ironic as it's exactly what you didn't do with Lopetegui.

He was proved right about Lopetegui though

 

[thommo1984]

Sa had had a couple of go's at gifting Brentford a goal in a very similar fashion in the first half, but got away with it. Dawson did not.

I'm clearly talking specifically about the second goal, which people are wrongly attributing to a bad pass from Sa to Doyle.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

I'm clearly talking specifically about the second goal, which people are wrongly attributing to a bad pass from Sa to Doyle.

I thought I was going mad.

People around me shouted at Sa at the time, I came on here and he was getting stick so I was interested when watching it back to see what I missed.

I then saw him play a fine pass to Lemina, who played a good ball to Dawson which effectively meant we were out the press.

Sa is a massive scapegoat among fans and I don’t really get it.

 

[wwbug]

Apologies if this has been said but I haven't gone through all nine pages yet. Sasa's partner gave birth this weekend so he wouldn't have played anyway. Eintracht played at the same time as us and he wasn't in their squad.

There are another 14 matches this season. Fingers crossed Hwang and Cunha both recover quickly.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

I thought I was going mad.

People around me shouted at Sa at the time, I came on here and he was getting stick so I was interested when watching it back to see what I missed.

I then saw him play a fine pass to Lemina, who played a good ball to Dawson which effectively meant we were out the press.

Sa is a massive scapegoat among fans and I don’t really get it.

Totally agree
Though some of his passes were astray especially first half,he did nothing wrong for the second
He was at fault for the first, combined with Dawson again, either could have stopped that free header
Sas kicking is awful tbf, but has improved slightly, with probably 6 out of 10 going to our players now

 

[Contrarian]

Sa is a clown. Watch closely what opposition teams do when he has the ball ready to pass it - it's like the charge of the light brigade. We need 2 keepers in the Summer. Any decent keeper would have caught the cross for their first goal easily. Having watched the replays closely I'm sure he called for it, causing Dawson to let it go. Sa isn't imposing or athletic enough and is in my opinion the worst keeper in the Premier League. When he was given a 5 year contract recently I hope to goodness it was to maximise his value. I'm not sure my ticker can stand another 5 years of his empty headed dithering.

He isn't the best, but he isn't the worst either. It's not like he's the only keeper who gets into trouble with playing out from the back. In my opinion, he's around the average for this league.

 

[Contrarian]

Sa is a massive scapegoat among fans and I don’t really get it.

I think it's because keepers stand out due to them having a unique position. They often tend to get scapegoated, with defenders next on the scapegoat list. Because when they make mistakes, it tends to result in a chance for the opposition. Players can make mistakes down the other end all day, and they are instantly forgiven. Your attack can miss 5 sitters, yet if a defender slips and you lose 0-1, it will be that defender who gets all the blame for the defeat!

The tend to attribute our goals scored to our players good play. While blaming goals conceded to defensive mistakes. Credit (or blame) to opponents is rare. Go onto Chelsea forum after the 4-2, and they are blaming defenders. Neto and Cunha barely get a mention. It's the way it is.

I try and use the same measure for our goals scored as for conceded. For example, Collins definitely made 2 mistakes that gave us goals in the 4-1. No argument, those goals were down to defensive mistakes. The two conceded against Brentford are poor defending, but not howlers where you can point your finger at a villain and say it was only down to him. For the corner goal, Norgard had to find some space. The corner taker had to find that space. We've see enough of our corners fail to get anywhere near our players...

Also, back to the Brentford game, even if Sa catches that corner (which he probably should have), then Brentford were creating clear chances at that point. You can't rely on them missing every one, one was going in at some point, so whichever player of ours is close to the ball, is going to get the blame.

The final score was a fair reflection of the game, we lost because as a team, we were disjointed, well off it and not very good all round.

 

[wolfgar]

I'm clearly talking specifically about the second goal, which people are wrongly attributing to a bad pass from Sa to Doyle.

Yes I'm aware. I didn't say you weren't. I specifically referenced Dawson not getting away with it

 

[manchesterwolf17]

One of those ridiculously annoying days all round. Had the sun blaring in my eyes for most of the game. Even the half time game participants were ****

 

[wolfgar]

One of those ridiculously annoying days all round. Had the sun blaring in my eyes for most of the game. Even the half time game participants were ****

**** me if I forgot about that. No wonder the jackpot is now a hundred grand or whatever. They managed to find 3 contestants who couldn't actually kick a ball properly? The least worst could end up an attacking option off the bench for us next week.

 

[SuperGran]

**** me if I forgot about that. No wonder the jackpot is now a hundred grand or whatever. They managed to find 3 contestants who couldn't actually kick a ball properly? The least worst could end up an attacking option off the bench for us next week.

They were all hilarious

 

[manchesterwolf17]

**** me if I forgot about that. No wonder the jackpot is now a hundred grand or whatever. They managed to find 3 contestants who couldn't actually kick a ball properly? The least worst could end up an attacking option off the bench for us next week.

Horrendous weren't they. I genuinely quite look forward to it. It's nearly 8k now and someone is bound to do it one day.

 

[wolfgar]

They were all hilarious

One after the other. Was actually the most enjoyable thing about the game

 

[wolfgar]

Horrendous weren't they. I genuinely quite look forward to it. It's nearly 8k now and someone is bound to do it one day.

I am turning up in my adidas predators for Sheff Utd

 

[Henry Palfrey]

**** me if I forgot about that. No wonder the jackpot is now a hundred grand or whatever. They managed to find 3 contestants who couldn't actually kick a ball properly? The least worst could end up an attacking option off the bench for us next week.

They were particularly bad this week. Is it compulsory to wear carpet slippers?

 

[wolfgar]

They were particularly bad this week. Is it compulsory to wear carpet slippers?

How did they all look like they have never kicked a ball between them before? I just always presumed that most people who love football can to some degree, which is clearly not the case

 

[manchesterwolf17]

How did they all look like they have never kicked a ball between them before? I just always presumed that most people who love football can to some degree, which is clearly not the case

I remember during half time of the famous Leicester 4-3 in 2003. Obviously we were 3-0 down at the break, and some bloke took part in what was the game at the time where they had to sprint from the half way several times and finish past the keeper. He was absolutely amazing. Insanely quick and scored every time. Which prompted the South Bank to sing 'sign him, sign him up, sign him up'

 

[martin120863]

They were particularly bad this week. Is it compulsory to wear carpet slippers?

The first guy ran up and shaped to kick it with his left and somehow kicked it with his right. It went sideways about 5 yards. Still an improvement on what we saw from our strikers during the game though.